Three's a Crowd (7 page)

I got more furious as the days passed. If I refused to walk beside him, he'd go into his howling wolf act with Brat shrieking encouragement, attracting the curious stares of everyone in the street. If I gave in to this ridiculous blackmail, it looked as though I was encouraging him.

The only time Drew Jamison was around at school to talk to was in the mornings. Of course, Jeebie was always there too, emitting vibes like some sort of super insect repellent. The entire week I never got more than a distant nod out of Drew and by Friday I was desperate. Was it too late to get Drew to repeat his invitation to take me to Tootles Disco? Or, horrors, had he already invited Louise?

“He's pretty cute in a wacky sort of way,” Julie chuckled, having seen my unsuccessful efforts to shake off Jeebie every morning.

“Not my type,” I snapped back.

Friday afternoon I was even more sure he wasn't my type. Julie and I were in the library; Jeebie was here too, but to my relief hadn't noticed us. His head was down and he was writing furiously, surrounded by high piled books. I sneaked another look at him. Without his clownish grin, he looked different and somehow more mature. His face almost seemed passable when it wasn't screwed up into silly expressions. He looked resolute and good humoured, but definitely not my type.

Julie and I had collected the books we needed for our history assignment and had settled ourselves down in our usual corner to work. Drew came in. He wore great jeans and a casual shirt, making all the other guys look like nerds. He came over to our corner.

“Can I join you?” he whispered.

Julie and I shifted our books and papers along without a word. He sat down, held up a book, and looked at me. I felt my knees do their usual boneless act. He had the bluest, most intense eyes I had ever gazed into. I dragged my concentration down to the title of his book. It was the year 11 English book I had completed the notes on.

I winked at him and produced my pages of notes. I had separated all the sections into themes, and put in my comments and accompanying page numbers. Drew sprawled his elbows on the table and studied my neat printing. Julie nudged me under the table. Miss Hendry prowled around, her eyes like gimlets looking for someone to pounce on. Our little corner was very peaceful so she moved away.

During the bustle of leaving I sensed Drew right behind us. As we got out into the yard he slid his hand around my bare elbow, pulling me back from the others. The hairs on the back of my neck prickled, although I was too muddled to work out the connection. I guess it was just Drew.

“Did you make notes on any of the others?” he murmured.

I nodded agreement, restraining myself from the immaturity of shrieking ”Eureka!” I had hooked this gorgeous guy. The extra time I had put into taking notes of the Year 11 English books was paying off.

Drew slung his bag over his shoulder and smiled down at me, waving an absent farewell to the furious Louise and the amused Julie as the two of us walked together out the school gate. Drew started to say something when his face suddenly froze.

I looked up. My elation and triumph fizzled away. I had two more males to escort me home. Jeebie, crumpled floral shirt flying out behind him, bounced a ball to Brat, stared at Drew and then winked me.

I tried to restrain a groan. Jeebie, who definitely wasn't my type, was out to cramp my style.

 

 

“Why don't you run on ahead and unlock the house for me?” I suggested to Brat, ignoring the grinning Jeebie as if he was invisible.

“Mum doesn't like me going into the house first,” the little wretch chanted. “What if there's a burglar waiting?”

“My sympathies are with the burglar,” Drew muttered. He delved into his pocket and spun a two dollar coin across to Brat. “If you go to the shop and buy your sister and me two cans of drink, you can keep the change.”

“No change out of that for two cans of drink,” Brat jeered, dancing around us.

Jeebie started to chuckle. I signalled a hate-filled get lost look at him, but he pretended not to see it. Brat grinned. He thought he was being funny. He flipped the coin back to Drew. I clenched my hands and wished they were tightening around my beastly little brother's neck.

Drew's smile looked a bit forced. “I like a kid who's good at arithmetic,” he said. He flipped the coin back and another four coins back as well. Brat caught them like a trained juggler. “That do? Take your time at getting back.”

“Okay, I suppose,” Brat said with a shrug. He threw his school bag at me to carry and ran off up the street towards the general store.

Drew and I continued our progress home escorted by the silent Jeebie. Today Jeebie wore jeans with patches on both knees, and a ragged and faded black T-shirt. Contrasted with Drew, he looked like a scarecrow dressed at the local thrift shop. Drew also wore jeans, but you could tell by their fit that they were expensive ones, and his shirt sat immaculately across his broad shoulders.

Our conversation on the way home had been stilted, with Jeebie listening to everything we said. Drew asked whether I was going to the pool in the morning and I assured him I was. Then I asked how he liked Mr McVitty as a tennis coach, and he said he was a great guy but a bit obsessive about training. Then we were silent. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to talk to Drew about with Jeebie listening to every word I said and I guess Drew felt the same.

At last we reached our front gate. I acknowledged Jeebie's presence as if I had just discovered he was there. “Bye, Jeebie. See you some time.”

Jeebie just grinned at us and vaulted the fence into his grandmother's place. I sneaked a look at my watch. With luck, if Brat stayed missing I would have a whole hour with Drew before Mum arrived home. I smiled up at Drew as I opened the front door.

“Come through to the sunroom, and I'll get out the rest of my notes.”

The sun room was the built in back veranda. It looked on to our back lawn and was cosy and private. It was Mum's domain which she used when she worked from home. It held her spare drawing board and desk, bookcases and the spare couch. If and when Brat arrived back I could send him into the lounge room to watch television so he would be out of our hair.

“My mother said your mother used to be the brain of the school,” Drew said, his eyes going to Mum's drawing board. “You inherit her brilliance for math as well?”

“No,” I admitted. “If I didn't work like a dog I would sink to the bottom of the class.”

I was instantly suspicious. Was Drew actually trying to use me? If Drew was attracted to straight A students, why me instead of Louise? Louise could easily have written up these notes. I flipped my plait back over my shoulder and unfolded my notes. Drew sat down and casually put his arm around me.

He suddenly smiled. He was so close to me that I saw how thick the black lashes that edged his blue eyes were. I forgot what I had been thinking about. It wasn't fair that such gorgeous lashes were wasted on a guy. Also it was odd that they were so black, when his hair and eyebrows were so gleamingly blond.

“I said I'm so grateful.” He had been speaking and I hadn't heard a word he'd said. “I was dreading tackling my assignments and I feel such an idiot for dropping so far behind on my reading.”

“No trouble,” I stammered. “Reading is one of my hobbies and I enjoy analysing themes and everything.”

Drew leaned even closer. My knees got their wobbly feel to them again. Then there was a loud knock on the back door and Drew sat upright and looked annoyed. “Your little brother back already?”

“He wouldn't knock,” I said. I shifted my notes and went outside and opened the door.

“Sorry to bother you, golliwog,” Jeebie said with his broad grin. I glared at him in fury. Did he think he was being funny, turning up where he wasn't wanted? “I promised your mother I would mow the back lawn this afternoon. I hope I won't disturb you.”

“How could you?” I snapped as I slammed the door in his face and went back to the sun room. “Jeebie's offered to do the back lawn for Mum,” I explained as I sat down beside Drew again. “Won't take him long.”

It didn't either. It was annoying having him tramp backwards and forwards across our small lawn. I concentrated on explaining the notes I had taken to Drew. I was horrified to discover that he hadn't read any of the books listed. I know it was rough to start another school three-quarters of the way through the year, but I couldn't see his Year 11 English teacher being too understanding about it.

At last, the noise of the mower stopped. I watched as Jeebie vanished around the side path, wheeling the mower back next door. I relaxed. He was gone and Drew and I still had three-quarters of an hour together.

Drew's arm stole back around my shoulders. Five minutes later I happened to glance out the window. The grinning Jeebie was carefully trimming the edges of the lawn with what looked like the smallest hand clippers I had ever seen. I reached for the other two books on Drew's Year 11 list, and started explaining their characters and plots as he took notes. All the time I watched Jeebie out of the corner of my eye. It was distracting having him in view through the window as he worked. He trimmed around the lawn, around the shed and then along the side of the fence. I thought he would never finish.

Brat came around the back, spoke to him for a minute and then crashed inside to hand Drew and me our cans of drink. Jeebie raked up the cut grass and then at last jumped the fence back into his grandmother's place. I sneaked another look at my watch. In exactly ten minutes' time my mother would be home.

“You're missing your favourite cartoon show,” I reminded Brat, who had propped on the floor and emptied out his purchases.

“I've got a whole dollar's worth of balloon water bombs,” Brat gloated, ignoring my suggestion. “Are we going down to the beach on Sunday so I can try them out? Look at them. There's red and green and blue and yellow and pink and purple and …”

“Maybe,” I snarled at him. “But right now Drew and I have some work to finish. Stop bothering me or I'll flatten you.”

“I'm going,” Brat said in an aggrieved tone. “I just wanted to show you all the sweets I've got for a dollar. Want some?”

“Out,” I ordered.

Brat always shared his sweets – it was one of his few good points – but I was suspicious of his generosity under the circumstances. Brat carefully picked up his balloons and counted them, one by one, and put them in his bag. I waited in an infuriated silence. Another five minutes was devoted to arranging all his sweets before they were slowly stored away and he left the room.

Drew and I sort of swayed closer. “Never been so glad in my life that I am a one and only,” he whispered, his lips very close to mine.

The door banged as Brat returned. “Mum's home,” he said. “I'll put your cans in the bin so she doesn't yell at you for being in her room.”

Drew looked startled at that and began shuffling all his notes and my notes together and packing them into his bag. I heard Mum speak to Brat and then her footsteps as she came down the passage and into the sun room.

“Hello, Mrs. Baxter,” Drew said with his nice smile as he stood up.

“Hi, Mum,” I said cheerfully. Not that I felt cheerful but Mum was witch-like the way she could suss out situations. “This is Drew Jamison. We've been going over some English assignments together.”

“I'm just leaving,” Drew said smoothly. “Nice meeting you Mrs. Baxter. See you, Amanda, Brett.”

I walked as far as the gate with him, but Brat skipped out beside us. All I could call after Drew was, “Might see you at the pool in the morning.”

“Goody,” Brat gloated. “We're going to the pool in the morning.”

“That's what you think,” I yelled as I lunged for him. He ducked and streaked for the house. We both reached the kitchen together but Mum was waiting. “I'm going to murder that little brat,” I threatened. “You've got to make him behave or I'll leave home.”

“What is it now?” Mum laughed. “I don't see why you can't be more mature, Amanda. Brett is the one who is ten.”

“And won't live to be much older if you don't do something about him,” I raged. “He hung around Drew and me like a bad smell.”

“I didn't,” Brat protested. “I only came in to show Amanda what I bought with the money Drew gave me, and share my sweets.”

Mum raised her eyebrows and looked at me. I felt myself going red. Put that way it sounded as if Drew had paid him to go missing.

“He refused to buy us some cans of drink unless Drew paid him to do it,” I accused.

“I'm missing my cartoon show.” Brat shot into the lounge room and turned the television up full blast.

“Quite,” Mum said drily. “Come and help me prepare dinner. I tried to get home earlier tonight because I was worried about Brett. I don't think it helps to keep bullying your little brother when he's been sick.”

“He's all right now,” I muttered.

I waited for her to say something else but she didn't. I had myself all psyched up to defend Drew's presence in the house. I know she didn't mind my friends coming around after school, but I had this gut feeling that she was likely to object to Drew being alone in the house with me.

“Jeebie did the back lawn this afternoon,” I said.

“He's a solid citizen,” Mum said absently as she looked out the back window. “Wish you would do the lawns that well.”

“Yeah,” I agreed flatly.

“John Belano is staying with his grandmother for three months as his parents have gone overseas and he is so helpful.”

“Yeah,” I said. What was helpful about the news that he was going to be around for three whole months?

“His father is a physicist and his mother a medical doctor,” Mum said. “Very clever people, the Belano's. John is a credit to them.”